#bonefool

[bonefool]

smart people get smart pets

[bonefool]

Frantisek Rint was a Bohemian carpenter. In 1867 he was brought in to rearrange the massive piles of Medieval bones that filled the Sedlec Ossuary. This building was a sanctified building within a large and popular Czech cemetery ( supposedly sprinkled with earth from Golgotha by an ancient abbot pilgrim).

The fame of the place caused great demand for burials, especially after the black plague and wars. The bones of the long dead began being exhumed and stored in the basement of the chapel (legend says one monk spent all his later years just exhuming and organizing the bones of 40-70k people) 400 years later local nobility hired the man Rint to redesign the bone piles, and his elaborate designs now attract 200,000 visitors annually. Over 3 years, his labor created 4 chandeliers, a massive coat of arms of his benefactors, the Schwarzenberger family, and his own bone signature.

[bonefool]

[bonefool]

[bonefool]

[bonefool]

[bonefool]

The solid gold skeleton, perched on the side of an ornate silver coffin, stands only 3.5cm high and is a unique example of Jewish gothic.

Complete in 1903 with 176 jointed parts (not just joined with wire), Israel Rouchomovsky's fascinatingly morbid skeleton is a piece reflecting the turbulent life of Jews in Eastern Europe, as well as the artists love of fine detail. The skeleton is solid hold, and the ornately carved coffin is solid silver.

The Jewish artist struggled in Odessa for official recognition. At one point he was contracted to create a golden crown in the manner of ancient Pythian funeral work. It was magnificent enough to be purchased by the Louvre, but historical inaccuracies raised red flags. The infamy he received became fame when he brought this skeleton and coffin to Paris. Eventually Russian pogroms and lucrative commissions in France convinced his whole family to emigrate. He declares this piece took almost a decade to complete.

[bonefool]

Who was the Stone Cutter?

I'm hoping to ask around about this person, what a fantastic character!